Comcast is debuting a new DVR and set-top box called tie X1 in the Portland area.

Elegant on-screen guides and apps make it much easier for viewers to find or record programming, or to search for video-on-demand. A new, simplified remote ties viewers to what they see on screen in a more appealing fashion than the unwieldy, 54-button remote it replaces.

For now, the X1 is only available to new subscribers to Comcast's "Triple Play" service (usually TV, phone and Internet.) But Comcast says it's coming for existing Triple Play customers soon, and to other cable TV subscribers eventually.